Blogs

Olivia Barron received a 2025 Ronald Raven Annual Award, a scholarship providing a tuition stipend and a 135-hour internship in the Wayne State University Archives. At the end of their internship, Olivia wrote this summary of their experience.

Ronald Raven Award Internship: A Retrospective

When I was a freshman history student at Wayne State University, the History Club went on a tour of the Walter P. Reuther Library to see its collections and the archive’s inner workings. I cannot begin to describe how excited I was by this experience, and how much it impacted the rest of my academic career up to the present.  read more »

Due to planned construction, the Reuther Library will be closed on Friday, August 8th.

During this building closure, staff will be working remotely and are happy to assist with your research needs. Please submit your questions to reutherreference@wayne.edu and we will answer as soon as we can.

Thank you for your patience as we update our library!

This blog post is part of a series celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Reuther Library's building.

“We have, at the present time, one large round table which will, at best, handle four researchers,” writes Dr. Philip Mason, founder of the archives at Wayne State University, as he describes the capacity for scholars in Purdy-Kresge to President William Rea Keast.  read more »

Michigan Labor Actions case exhibit
February 10, 2025 – July 3, 2025

Come by the library and explore our latest case exhibit, Michigan Labor Actions. This display features photographs, ephemera, and artifacts from our collections that highlight key collective actions in Michigan’s labor history. Events showcased include the Copper Country Strike (1913), Studebaker Strike (1913), Ford Hunger March (1932), Flint Sit-Down Strike (1937), UFW Grape Boycotts (1970s), D.R.U.M. Wildcat Strikes (1970s), P.A.T.C.O. Strike (1981), and the Detroit Newspaper Strike (1995–1997).  read more »